Plagued
by GiorgiaKerr
Summary: Danny has some trouble ignoring his thoughts about his partner. Martin isn't doing much to help. Oneshot. Danny/Martin.


**Spoilers:** When will you realize: Vienna waits for you.

**Disclaimer:** I love _The Eagles_. Ah, they're so good! Chocolate's pretty awesome, too… My dad stole my door. Long story. It's very annoying.

**Author's Note:** I wasn't lying when I said "now I can't get them out of my head" in relation to Martin and Danny. It's really very annoying. I feel inadequate: both my brothers have at least three friends over, and I'm sitting in my room writing fanfiction… Can you say 'sad'?

Anyhow, reviews are loved more than just about everything. (Hint, hint).

* * *

Martin's breath came out in short bursts: there wasn't much better than this feeling. He let himself fall to the floor; his partner collapsing at his side with a huff. Turning to look at his partner, he grinned and pulled himself up off the gym mats, extending a hand to a very flushed Danny.

"Good match," he panted. Danny took the offered hand, gripping Martin's wrist tightly, and hoisted himself up, smacking the other man's shoulder in agreement.

Martin loved sparring; it was easily the most fun of all the FBI fitness trainings. Not to mention that Danny was a fantastic sparring partner. Still, he thought, the best thing was that it didn't involve lessons on the best part of the anatomy to pierce with a searing little piece of lead.

He grimaced ever so slightly at the thought. Thankfully, Danny didn't notice. "Shower," he decreed, instead. Martin agreed by grabbing his gym bag and towel with a quick smile.

"Hey, Fitz!" Danny called as his partner reached the doors. Martin turned, curious amusement evident in his expression. Danny smirked. "Next time your ass is _mine_," he informed him. Martin smirked back.

"In your dreams, Danny," he called back before disappearing through the gym doors.

Danny pulled a face. _Only too often,_ he thought cynically. He briefly wondered if someone could be psychologically spiteful towards them self. He shook his head, frustrated. None of this was helping. That, and the fact that he figured at the very least, he was self-destructive.

Frowning in the direction Martin had just departed, Danny almost subconsciously thought about what Martin was doing while he was standing there like a tool. The image didn't stay subconscious for very long, and Danny fought the urge to throw himself against the nearest hard object.

Again, the tiles of the shower room walls and a very naked Martin hit him right in the forehead. Everyone had always told him that accidental puns were the best ones; now Danny was certain they were wrong.

Looking up briefly, Danny glanced at the clock. He swore softly as he saw the time; he had to be back upstairs in a half hour. That was not a very helpful deadline. That and the fact that he was really not feeling all that accommodating.

He made a mental note to never, _ever_, agree to be Martin's sparring partner. Ever again. God, he had wanted to kiss Martin. The whole session had been a struggle in many more ways than sparring should be.

* * *

Jack sighed, filling the room with silence for a few seconds. "Martin, Samantha, I want you to check out the boy's school," he told the squad finally. "Viv, Danny, stay here and get through those phone records." Jack's finger extended toward a seriously satisfied-looking pile of papers sitting on the squad room table.

As Jack left, Vivian smiled defeatedly at Danny, who smiled back with just a little more humour. "You'd think they could keep this all on computer by now," Danny complained. Vivian smiled.

"Yeah, you'd think." She took the first dozen pages. "If Reggie made this many calls, he would probably be missing, too," Vivian joked cynically. Danny had to laugh; Viv was right. The kid had made an amazing amount of calls. Danny was quite impressed with the lack of repeated phone numbers. How could one person rack up a hundred pages of phone records with so few recurring numbers?

He had shaken his head sadly when he had learned that the boy had had his own private line within his parents' house, but now he could see why.

Danny suddenly stopped that train of thought. There really was some kind of self-preservation mechanism in his brain. Any time there was something to focus on: he would focus to the extreme. Generally, it was the most facile extreme possible. That, or a certain partner he really wished he didn't think about so much.

The mental red-light flashed blindingly again, and Danny cleared his throat in an unsuccessful attempt at clearing his mind. What the hell was wrong with him today? There was obviously something. Images of the previous few hours at the downstairs gym flickered through his mind and he realized he definitely knew what.

He stood up a little too quickly. "You got something?" Viv asked eagerly. Danny shook his head, reminded of Vivian's presence.

"No, I'm just… Coffee?" he asked brightly. Vivian responded to his smile the way he expected her to and agreed happily. "Good. I think I'll go for a walk; forego the break room sludge they pass off as coffee," Danny joked. The joke sounded slightly awkward to him, but Vivian seemed unfazed.

Danny breathed deeply as he left the building, fighting the urge the slump into the wall behind him. It's not like it was unheard of in New York City. It was probably a regular occurrence outside _this_ building. He really did just want to sink into something. He didn't care what; he just didn't want to be plagued by his cruel imagination all day. Again.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he wandered down the street along with the rest of the midday crowd. His mind was filled again with images of shower rooms, tiles, and some incredibly un-partner-like touching.

He ran into someone. The woman he had bumped into smiled at him in what he was sure she thought was a sexy manner. She apologized huskily, and Danny had to force himself not to laugh. If only she'd known _why_ he hadn't seen her.

Danny just smiled casually, assured her that he was okay, and turned back toward his destination. The woman's expression was a welcome, not to mention amusing, distraction to his previous train of thought. He felt kind of sorry for her; any other man would probably have asked her to join him for lunch. She certainly looked like that's what she wanted.

Well, that and a serious tone-down on the eye makeup. Danny grinned at the thought as he walked automatically into the coffee shop. God knows how many times he'd been there. The owner and every staff member save the mechanic knew the faces and orders of his whole team. Even the trainee knew him.

"Just Viv and I, today," he said to the kid behind the counter. The obviously-a-college-student's name was, legally, Astro. Danny couldn't decide which was worse: The fact that it was possible that his parents named him that, or the fact that the kid could have named himself. Despite the dilemma Danny had always had with Astro's name, he liked the kid well enough.

Always a kind word, always an amusing observation and always the best lattes the place had to offer. Not only the best, but the strongest.

Danny couldn't help but recall one of Astro's more… observant observations. Danny and Martin had gone into the café on morning after a night shift, absolutely exhausted, but happy enough that they had not only solved the case but had avoided paperwork.

Danny had made a joke about how tired he was, earning a laugh and a pat on the shoulder from Martin. Danny had smiled and unbeknownst, thank God, to Martin, he'd blushed a little. Martin had sat down in a booth, allowing Danny to order for them both.

Astro had smirked at him from behind the counter. "Hey, man!" he said, far too cheery for this early in the morning. He'd turned away from Danny to the coffee machine, but kept his head tilted in Danny's direction. "You two make a cute couple," he'd said slyly, flicking his head in Martin's direction.

All Danny could think of doing was snorting derisively. "Me and Martin?" he'd asked incredulously, thought making sure he kept his voice at an inaudible level. "No way, man." He'd continued to laugh, suddenly happy for his ability to hide his emotions.

That had not been a good morning.

Now, Danny smiled as Astro handed him the paper cups. "Where's your partner today?" Astro asked innocently.

If Danny had been in a more humorous mood, he would have cried. This day really was not doing anything for his mental health.

Now, he had to admit, as horrible as it usually was, the _'cannot talk about ongoing investigations'_ clause was sometimes a godsend.

"Working," Danny said indifferently. "Can't really say much more than that. You know how it is." Danny shrugged, hoping this wasn't one of Astro's more observant shifts. Apparently it wasn't.

"Say hi to him for me, would you? And give my regards to Viv," he added. Astro loved Viv; usually stern, he managed to get a pretty good rise out of her one day, and they actually developed a relationship beyond server-and-servee. From this, Danny was quite sure that Astro didn't have a very close relationship with his mother.

Not that he cared, really. Everyone in the team had their fair share of personal and familial issues. He often wondered if that's why they got along so well. And why, when they didn't, they really didn't. They weren't ones to judge others.

Suddenly realizing that he was in fact still in the middle of a conversation, he turned back to Astro, paid him and grinned a goodbye. Astro waved casually and turned back to his next customer.

* * *

Danny almost groaned as Martin grinned at him on his way into the squad room. It was that smile that killed him a little every day. Though, on his more poetic days, he'd probably say that the smile was what helped him live through some.

Automatically, he smiled back. He moved away to deliver Vivian's coffee, knowing he'd taken unnecessary amounts of time in delivering it to her in the first place. He turned to Martin and Samantha; keeping his eyes, deliberately, more on Samantha.

"That was quick," he said, the question obvious. They both shrugged.

"Kid didn't have a lot of friends," Samantha said matter-of-factly. "Teachers said nothing but, 'He was quiet, a good enough student…'"

"Never in trouble, didn't seem to have problems at home," Martin added, bored. It was the kind of response they usually expected from teachers and students. It was the answer given by people who like to think they know someone, when really all they see is a face. Or, it seemed, in this kid's case, significantly less.

More talk on the case presented itself and Danny was incredibly glad to have something other than his partner to focus on. It was easy to block Martin when his thoughts were on a case.

Until Martin reached across him and took his half-empty coffee cup. He only smiled when Danny looked at him incredulously. Really, it was shock not incredulity, but he knew that to everyone else, it didn't look in the least suspicious. It never did.

Both men remained silent as the debriefing went on. Danny's mind subconsciously registered everything Jack was saying whilst consciously registering only the fact that Martin was sitting so close; something he hadn't noticed before. He briefly considered that Martin had moved closer, but quickly discounted the thought. That was into the cruel territory of Wishful Thinking.

* * *

Three hours later, Danny closed his eyes, forcing himself not to smack his head onto his keyboard in front of him. This was really not a good end to a case. Or a good end to a life, if there was such a thing.

The boy's distance from his parents, coupled with the money he had and his lack of friends had driven him to do something unbelievably stupid. And unbelievably desperate. He'd gleaned the name of a local crack dealer from a kid at school. Not only had he been sold a bad batch of coke in the first place, but he'd been found trying to call an ambulance for himself and been beaten to death by the dealer and his cronies.

Samantha and Vivian were currently interrogating the crack dealer; Jack was pretending not to be affected in his office; and Martin looked like he wanted to hit something.

As if hearing the thought, Martin called to Danny. "Want another round in the gym?" Or hit some_one_, apparently. Danny considered his earlier resolve to never agree to do this. Ever.

But right at that moment, he decided he really didn't care. It wasn't like he didn't _want_ to. He just didn't know if he _could_. As his earlier frustration seeped back into his mind, he decided that it couldn't hurt for him to hit something, either.

Besides, he decided, they were both too exhausted for it to last longer than five or six minutes.

* * *

Danny was very wrong. As he hit the floor for the third time in as many minutes, he almost regretted his decision. Almost. It didn't exactly suck to be pinned on the floor by Martin, even if it was only as stress relief. Danny could personally think of many more effective means of stress relief, but he didn't bother voicing them.

He also had to admit that it _was_ a good means of stress relief, albeit not the best. Danny pushed Martin off him, switching their positions gracefully. He was surprised when Martin didn't shove him off instantly. Instead, he stared at Danny so intensely for a few seconds that it was Danny who had to move.

He stood up quickly, extending a hand to his partner, reversing the scene of that morning. Martin was panting again, cheeks a very alluring shade of red. Danny flashed a smile at his partner and headed towards the shower. _Screw it_, he thought defiantly. He really couldn't be bothered waiting around for Martin to be fully clothed before he showered. Or, for that matter, entered the room.

"Thanks, Danny," Martin said as they threw their bags on the benches in the shower room. Danny smiled a little wider this time.

"Anytime, Fitz," he said. "Kicking your ass is well worth it." Martin gawked, but quickly recovered.

"You did not kick my ass, Danny," he said, fingers gripping the hem of his shirt. An action which did not go unnoticed by Danny. Not in the least. Danny turned a little, pretending to search for something in his bag. Anything to keep his eyes off the magnificent body of his partner. He clenched his jaw as a shirt hit the bench next to him haphazardly.

"No, really, man; thanks," Martin said again, a strangely serious tone to his voice. Upon hearing the tone, Danny turned to his partner, a small frown on his face. He smiled a little.

Danny debated whether or not to say anything, finally settling for a nod. He felt his eyes being pulled downwards and turned quickly back to his bag. Martin might notice if his shower was cold.

As soon as Danny's hands found his bag, though, a strong hand found his shoulder. Spinning to meet Martin's eyes, only half voluntarily, he didn't have time to react before Martin's mouth found his own. If he had have been able to form a semi-coherent thought, he would have just about died of shock.

For the moment however, his mind - and a few other parts of him - were seriously preoccupied. Feeling abruptly like he'd been rocketed back to adolescence, his body reacted more fiercely than he expected.

Suddenly embarrassed and utterly confused, Danny reluctantly pulled away from Martin, who didn't look so willing either. They stared at each other for a few seconds, regaining their breath - not to mention composure - before Martin spoke.

"I… I, uh…" he laughed nervously, averting his eyes from Danny's. Seeing the effect he'd had on Danny didn't help his situation. "I'm sorry, I…" Martin ran out of words. There wasn't anything to say. _It wasn't me_ seemed somewhat pointless, and he didn't think Danny would fall for _It was an accident. _So he stayed silent, fighting the urge to run.

Danny, on the other hand, was fighting the urge to pin Martin against the wall in a very un-professional manner. If there was ever a professional manner in which to pin someone against a wall. Still, he felt the need to make Martin feel better. _Whipped_, he chastised himself.

"Fitz, I-"

The nickname did it. Danny's sentence was lost, totally obliterated by Martin's lips. Not that he cared. All he could think about was Martin's mouth, Martin's hands, Martin's…

Suddenly, Martin found himself against the wall.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed (if you got this far). Thank you for reading, and reviews are truly appreciated!

Giorgia


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